A casino for Coventry which could create up to 1,200 jobs took one step closer to reality yesterday following the announcement that a major American company is applying for a gaming licence.

Isle of Capri Casinos Inc, which already operates casinos in Dudley, Wolverhampton and Walsall, announced it had taken the final step in the process of gaining permission to establish a casino within the Arena Coventry project.

The company, which has served as a leader in US regional gaming since 1992, had already secured a Certificate of Consent from the Gaming Board for Great Britain in February this year for the casino in Coventry.

The Arena project is a joint venture between Coventry City Council and The Higgs Charity.

It includes a new stadium for Coventry Football Club, an exhibition centre, a hotel and a health club which are almost complete and due to open in the autumn of 2005. The casino is due for completion in 2006.

John McGuigan, director of city development at Coventry City Council, said: "The Arena Coventry project is key to our strategy of boosting Coventry's economic prosperity by investing in quality leisure facilities.

"Along with the new Tesco store and stadium, the casino plays a vital role in securing the economic viability of the regeneration, enabling us to attract funds from the Higgs Charity, EU structural funding and regional public sector investors."

John Brackenbury, nonexecutive director of both Isle of Capri Inc and Isle of Capri Casinos Ltd, said: "The Arena Coventry will achieve so much.

"It is a wide-ranging development, regenerating a major area of north Coventry with state of the art facilities in one complex. It is a credit to the spirit of partnership that has driven this project throughout"